Marquez takes first MotoGP victory in fantastic Repsol Honda 1-2

Marc Marquez won the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas today and in doing so, has become the youngest ever rider to win a premier-class grand prix at the age of 20 years 63 days taking the record from Freddie Spencer (who was 20 years 196 days when he won the Belgium 500cc GP at Spa-Francorchamps in 1982). His teammate Dani Pedrosa, finished just 1.5 seconds behind him in second position, sealing a great weekend for the Repsol Honda Team and Honda, who with this victory celebrate their 6th consecutive win on American soil.

The Spanish riders, wearing black armbands as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in Boston and in West in the last days, set the pace from the first laps. Marc slipped back to third at the first corner and Dani took the lead. Marc regained second position and tracked Dani for twelve laps before passing him with nine laps remaining. It was then Dani’s turn to chase Marc, who had chosen the harder rear tyre (Dani was on a soft), but finally the young MotoGP rookie, who completed a perfect weekend with pole position, fastest lap (2’04.242) and victory, held on for his maiden MotoGP win, in just his second race.

Marc Marquez

“After taking my first podium in Qatar I was very happy, but I am even more so today after my first win! It went better than I expected and I am very grateful to the team for their efforts over the preseason. We have worked very hard and, without this, the victory would not have been possible. The race was very intense and physical, as I followed Dani for many laps and then decided to launch an attack and try to open a gap with ten laps to go. I could not pull the gap I wanted as some problems with the front emerged that we’d experienced throughout the weekend. Despite all this, we were able to take the victory. The 25 points are important, but what is more important is to have achieved a win in my second race in MotoGP. We realise that more difficult circuits lie ahead for us, but we will try to give 100% at all of them. Our battle is not the one for the championship, but rather taking it race-by-race and enjoying every moment.”

Dani Pedrosa

“Today's race was good and I'm happy with this second place. We had great pace, even though we knew that Marc was very strong. I tried to ride my own race and in the end I was losing a lot of time in the chicanes. I was tiring physically and I could not handle the bike well – especially in the first part of the circuit. In the second section of the track I was recovering quite a lot of time, but it was not enough. Furthermore, in one of the three laps before the end I made a mistake, lost around 1.5 seconds and Marc was able to get away. That was the point at which the race was lost for me. Still, I'm happy, my riding was pretty good today and I have improved compared with Qatar. I have to congratulate Marc as well, because he did a great job! Now we need to focus on Jerez – a circuit I like a lot.”

MotoGP 2013Sunday, April 21st 2013

Race
Round 2
Red Bull Grand Prix of The AmericasAmericas

Results Session

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Points

Team

Constructor

Time/Gap

1

Marquez Marc

93

SPA

25

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

43'42.123

2

Pedrosa Dani

26

SPA

20

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

+1.534

3

Lorenzo Jorge

99

SPA

16

Yamaha

+3.381

4

Crutchlow Cal

35

GBR

13

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

+6.616

5

Bradl Stefan

6

GER

11

LCR Honda MotoGP

Honda

+12.674

6

Rossi Valentino

46

ITA

10

Yamaha

+16.615

7

Dovizioso Andrea

4

ITA

9

Ducati Team

Ducati

+22.374

8

Bautista Alvaro

19

SPA

8

Go & Fun Honda Gresini

Honda

+22.854

10

Iannone Andrea

29

ITA

6

Energy T.I. Pramac Racing

Ducati

+42.112

11

Espargaro Aleix

41

SPA

5

Power Electronics Aspar

ART

+48.837

12

Smith Bradley

38

GBR

4

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

+50.705

13

Spies Ben

11

USA

3

Pramac Racing

Ducati

+1'14.132

14

De Puniet Randy

14

FRA

2

Power Electronics Aspar

ART

+1'15.651

15

Hernandez Yonny

68

COL

1

Paul Bird Motorsport

ART

+1'19.591

16

Laverty Michael

70

GBR

0

Paul Bird Motorsport

PBM

+1'34.391

17

Aoyama Hiroshi

7

JPN

0

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

+1'39.823

18

Barbera Hector

8

SPA

0

Avintia Blusens

FTR

+1'39.952

19

Corti Claudio

71

ITA

0

Athina Forward Racing

FTR-Kawasaki

+1'46.773

20

Staring Bryan

67

AUS

0

Go & Fun Honda Gresini

FTR-Honda

+1'48.084

21

Young Blake

79

USA

0

Attack Performance Racing

APR

+1 lap

22

Petrucci Danilo

9

ITA

0

Came IodaRacing Project

IODA-SUTER

DNF

23

Pesek Lukas

52

CZE

0

Came IodaRacing Project

IODA-SUTER

DNF

24

Edwards Colin

5

USA

0

Athina Forward Racing

FTR-Kawasaki

DNF

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Gallery

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Location Information

The Circuit Of The Americas is the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the U.S. near Austin, Texas, with a 5.513km track and a capacity for 120,000 fans. Construction of the impressive 1000-acre facility was completed late in 2012, with MotoGP lining up at the track for the first time… read more.

Location Information

The Circuit Of The Americas is the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the U.S. near Austin, Texas, with a 5.513km track and a capacity for 120,000 fans. Construction of the impressive 1000-acre facility was completed late in 2012, with MotoGP lining up at the track for the first time… read more.